Love will tear us apart...

Do people who travel alone cry themselves to sleep like Jade Goody? Would Stephen Hawking make a practical and fun travel buddy? All is revealed within...

By Leila Pinder & Jim Whiteley

She said

I want to go travelling with my boyfriend.” I was surprised when family and friends met my comments with replies such as “Oh, really?”, “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”, “What if you fall out?”

The majority of responses were negative, and instead of doubts creeping into my mind it only made me more determined to go with him. I felt that whoever you travelled with would always raise the possibility of falling out with each other.

I can now see that my opinion of travelling in a relationship was seen through rose tinted glasses. I had envisioned romantic walks on the beach; beautiful sunset’s together, remote islands with no one else around. Of course, it didn’t take long before my dreams were shattered. Actually it only took 3 hours. On the plane journey I was really excited about going to Asia, but spent the majority of the journey taking advantage of BA’s freebies while he snored his way across the time zones.

At times I found travelling with my boyfriend amusing as I began to notice how the opposite sexes are treated differently in some countries abroad. For instance, bills were handed to my boyfriend and when I paid for anything, nearly every time the change would be given back to him. On certain occasions I really appreciated having him with me as it prevented me being harassed by other men’s advances.

I think we had a great time travelling together because we had such similar interests. We have friends who have hated travelling as a couple; they argued most of the time and eventually broke up. Lots of people say they feel unapproachable as a couple, and it’s therefore harder to make friends. We luckily didn’t experience this, and even plucked up the courage to go back to Asia again last summer, and found it just as good as the first time.

He Said

Planning to go away can be as much fun as going. But as I organised my gap year 3 years ago, I felt as though my plans were very much akin to the Titanic – beautifully crafted, an adventure to embark on, with so much promise after so many months of preparation, but ultimately doomed to hit a massive iceberg and sink. And this particular iceberg would come in the form of my girlfriend.

Now don’t get me wrong, my girlfriend doesn’t look like an iceberg, far from it. But everyone I spoke to in the months leading up to our departure tried to persuade me not to go with her, told me it was the worst idea ever, and generally thought I was pretty stupid for even suggesting it.

Well, I did go with her, and it was great. I’ll be honest; I was expecting to perhaps find myself restricted in my activities by travelling with my girlfriend. Would she be able to hack the pressure of travelling? The constant moving around, the scummy places to sleep, and generally putting up with me for 6 months? As it turns out, yes she was. And, we had a great time too.

Travelling with a partner isn’t a decision to be taken lightly, and it will definitely make or break a relationship. You’ll have to deal with issues you didn’t even think would arise before you went away, such as sitting up at night while the other runs back and forward to the pit toilet every 5 minutes, doing things you really didn’t ever want to imagine the other doing, but you’ll get over it – you’re just sharing an important part of someone else’s gap year experience, all be it one perhaps neither of you wanted to see.